From the City of Kent:

Thousands are expected to attend Kent’s annual 4^th of July Splash and evening fireworks celebration at Lake Meridian Park.  But other parks get heavy use over the holiday weekend, too. The result is debris from unauthorized fireworks littering the parking lots and grounds.

So, neighbors, families, scouts and other volunteers are invited to donate an hour or two between 9:00-11:00 a.m. on Monday, July 5^th, to help clean up one of the hardest-hit parks.  The select parks are West Hill Park and West Fenwick Park on the west hill and Morrill Meadows Park and North Meridian Park on the east hill.

“We encourage volunteers to work together to ‘be green’ and keep recycling separate from trash,” said Parks Director Jeff Watling.  Trash bags will be dropped off at each park site for volunteers to use and maintenance staff will pick up full bags afterwards.  A Parks staff member will travel to each site, beginning on the west hill from 9-10 and moving to the other parks for the last hour.

Registration forms are available at www.KentWAParks.com, click on Volunteer, or call 253-856-5110.  Registration is encouraged by July 1 to give staff an idea of community interest.

The boat launch at Lake Meridian will be temporarily closed due to unusually high rainfall.  The City of Kent is monitoring the water levels daily and will re-open the boat launch as soon as conditions improve.

“Boating activity and the wakes they create could potentially cause erosion of the shoreline,” said Jeff Watling, Kent’s Parks and Recreation Director.  “The amount of rainfall we’ve seen this June is unprecedented.  Closures of the boat launch typically occur only during winter months.”

For more information and updates on the boat launch, visit www.choosekent.com.

Thousands of visitors attend Lake Meridian Park’s annual 4th of July Splash and evening fireworks celebration.  The event requires a major clean-up for Parks staff the next day.  Other parks get heavy use over the holiday weekend, too, with debris from unauthorized fireworks littering parking lots and grounds.

This year the 4th of July falls on a Saturday.  So while many of us will be sleeping in on Sunday morning, Kent Parks maintenance workers will be up early, tackling Lake Meridian beach and Van Doren’s Landing Park beginning at 6:00 AM.  At 9:00 AM, Kent Parks invites neighbors, families and other volunteers to spend an hour or two at five key parks helping to get them cleaned up for all to enjoy once again.

The parks needing the most assistance are:
•    West Fenwick Park
•    West Hill Park
•    Morrill Meadows Park
•    Springwood Park
•    Scenic Hill Park

Parks Maintenance staff will be on hand and trash bags will be provided.  Volunteers are encouraged to work together to “be green” and keep recycling bags separate from trash. Meet your neighbors, make friends, and get a little exercise.
A nice way to start your Sunday!

For more information: 253-856-5110, visit www.KentWAParks.com (click on Volunteer) or email Tony Donati.